Plant community patterns in a gypsum area of NE Spain. I. Interactions with topographic factors and soil erosion

The aim of this paper is to explain how topographical factors and soil erosion affect plant community patterns in the gypsum hills of the Middle Ebro Basin (NE Spain).Both the altitudinal location on the hill and, secondarily, the aspect determine a regular distribution pattern of the plant communities, which is closely related to soil and erosion features, as well as to some plant attributes. Tall perennial grasses dominate the valley bottoms, and scrub vegetation the hillsides and hilltops. Water availability, soil depth and particle movement down the slope are the main factors that could explain this segregation.     

Effect of vegetation with different evolution degree on soil organic matter in a semi-arid environment (Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, SE Spain)

The organic matter of the surface horizons of soils developed below scrub vegetation in a Mediterranean semi-arid area of great environmental interest (Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, SE Spain) has been studied. The study mainly concentrates on examining the influence of two vegetation types, one evolved (according to its successional stage), and the other clearly degraded as a result of prior removal of vegetation. In spite of the homogeneity in the results obtained from the analysis of the organic matter from the soils studied, a relationship may be established between vegetation biotype and characteristics and evolution of the soil organic matter. The evolved vegetation results in the presence in the soil of a somewhat more evolved and stable organic matter (demonstrated by certain chemical and microbiological aspects), resulting in a greater degree of humification, thus favouring the protection of the soil and the ecosystem as a whole. Hence, the presence of degraded vegetation might lead to soil degradation, something that is unsustainable in semi-arid areas that are particularly fragile in nature.     

Effects of climate change and urban development on the distribution and conservation of vegetation in a Mediterranean type ecosystem

Climate and land-use changes are projected to threaten biodiversity over this century. However, few studies have considered the spatial and temporal overlap of these threats to evaluate how ongoing land-use change could affect species ranges projected to shift outside conservation areas. We evaluated climate change and urban development effects on vegetation distribution in the Southwest ecoregion, California Floristic Province, USA. We also evaluated how well a conservation network protects suitable habitat for rare plant species under these change projections and identified primary sources of uncertainty. We used consensus-based maps from three species distribution models (SDMs) to project current and future suitable habitat for 19 species representing different functional types (defined by fire-response – obligate seeders, resprouting shrubs – and life forms – herbs, subshrubs), and range sizes (large/common, small/rare). We used one spatially explicit urban growth projection; two climate models, emission scenarios, and probability thresholds applied to SDMs; and high-resolution (90 m) environmental data. We projected that suitable habitat could disappear for 4 species and decrease for 15 by 2080. Averaged centroids of suitable habitat (all species) were projected to shift tens (up to hundreds) of kilometers. Herbs showed a small-projected response to climate change, while obligate seeders could suffer the greatest losses. Several rare species could lose suitable habitat inside conservation areas while increasing area outside. We concluded that (i) climate change is more important than urban development for vegetation habitat loss in this ecoregion through 2080 due to diminishing amounts of undeveloped private land in this region; (ii) the existing conservation plan, while extensive, may be inadequate to protect plant diversity under projected patterns of climate change and urban development, (iii) regional assessments of the dynamics of the drivers of biodiversity change based on high-resolution environmental data and consensus predictive mapping, such as this study, are necessary to identify the species expected to be the most vulnerable and to meaningfully inform regional-scale conservation.     

Human-driven topographic effects on the distribution of forest in a flat,lowland agricul-tural region简

Complex topography buffers forests against deforestation in mountainous regions. However, it is unknown if terrain also shapes forest distribution in lowlands where human impacts are likely to be less constrained by terrain. In such regions, if important at all, to- pographic effects will depend on cultural-historical factors and thus be human-driven （an- thropogenic） rather than natural, except in regions where the general climate or extreme soils limit the occurrence of forests. We used spatial regression modeling to assess the extent to which topographic factors explain forest distribution （presence-absence at a 48x48 m resolu- tion） in a lowland agricultural region （Denmark, 43,075 km2） at regional and landscape scales （whole study area and 10x10 km grid cells, respectively）, how landscape-scale for- est-topography relationships vary geographically, and which potential drivers （topographic heterogeneity, forest cover, clay content, coastal/inland location） determine this geographic heterogeneity. Given a moist temperate climate and non-extreme soils all landscapes in Denmark would naturally be largely forest covered, and any topographic relationships will be totally or primarily human-driven. At regional scale, topographic predictors explained only 5% of the distribution of forest. In contrast, the explanatory power of topography varied from 0%-61% at landscape scale, with clear geographic patterning. Explanatory power of topog- raphy at landscape scale was moderately dependent on the potential drivers, with topog- raphic control being strongest in areas with high topographic heterogeneity and little forest cover. However, these conditioning effects were themselves geographically variable. Our findings show that topography by shaping human land-use can affect forest distribution even in flat, lowland regions, but especially via localized, geographically variable effects.     

干旱风沙区植被重建初期对土壤微生物群落结构的影响

为揭示干旱风沙区植被重建对土壤微生物群落结构的影响,以乌海至玛沁高速公路腾格里沙漠段生态防护体系的植被重建区土壤为研究对象,以流动沙丘为对照,运用高通量测序技术研究植被重建区土壤微生物群落结构随植被恢复重建的变化特征。结果表明:植被重建区与流沙区土壤微生物群落组成相似,均以放线菌门(58.53%～67.85%)、变形细菌门(16.53%～19.68%)等为优势类群;优势菌属包括诺卡氏菌属、甲基柔膜菌属、微红微球菌属和微枝型杆菌属。与流沙区对照相比,植被重建区显著增加了土壤大部分菌门相对丰度和多样性。植被恢复重建后土壤pH、电导率及盐分含量降低;土壤微生物量磷(MBP)、土壤微生物量碳(MBC)与土壤微生物量碳氮比(MBC:MBN)在植被重建区浅层土壤(0～5 cm、5～10 cm和10～20 cm)显著高于流沙区。因此,对于沙漠公路生态防护体系而言,植被重建能显著改善其浅层土壤养分状况、微生物相对丰度和多样性水平,是改善沙漠生态环境的重要措施。     

植被NDVI对城市扩展及气候变化的响应——以西安及其附近区域为例

植被 NDVI 对城市扩展及气候变化响应研究,对于科学评估区域生态环境变化及调整与约束人类活动具有重要理论和现实意义。以西安及其附近区域为例,基于区域土地利用、MODIS NDVI、气温和降水数据,分析了植被 NDVI 对城市扩展及气候变化的响应,结果表明：（1）2000-2014 年研究区植被 NDVI 变化过程划分为2000-2007 年的显著增加阶段和2007-2014 年的显著减少阶段,前者主要分布于区域北部黄土高原、南部秦岭北坡,后者主要分布于区域中部关中平原尤其是西安及其附近区域。（2）2000-2015 年研究区建设用地增加1 428.27 km² ,建设用地增加区域植被 NDVI 呈显著减少趋势。（3）研究区植被 NDVI 与年降水量的相关性高于年平均气温,同时西安及其以南区域植被 NDVI 与年平均气温、年降水量均呈负相关关系,反映出城市扩展等人类活动对植被 NDVI 变化的影响超过了气候变化的影响。研究结果表明植被 NDVI 总体受气候变化控制,但局部受人类活动影响更为严重,并且植被 NDVI 对气候变化的响应表现出波动性,而对城市扩展表现出线性减少趋势性,为通过植被 NDVI 变化区分自然因素与人为因素对环境影响提供了可能。     

地下水埋深对半干旱区典型植物群落土壤酶活性的影响

土壤酶活性是反映土壤功能的关键指标,尤其在受到水分限制的半干旱区,土壤水分驱动的土壤酶活性生态功能的变化可以改变土壤养分周转并影响土壤碳质量.地下水埋深对半干旱区典型植物群落土壤酶活性的影响机制尚不明晰.以半干旱区科尔沁沙质草地两种典型植物群落(白草Pennisetum centrasiaticum和差巴嘎蒿Artem...     

Relations between interrill erosion processes and sediment particle size distribution in a semiarid Mediterranean area of SE of Spain

Erosion and sediment characteristics were measured using simulated rainfall on two cultivated soils of contrasting lithology (Quaternary calcareous colluvium and Tertiary marls) in a semiarid Mediterranean area of SE Spain. Two rainfall intensities, high (56.0±2.4 mm h⁻¹) and medium (31.4±1.4 mm h⁻¹), were used in order to know the mechanisms involved in each selected condition. For each simulated event, runoff and sediment were sampled at 1-min intervals on a 1-m wide by 2-m long erosion plot. The erosion rate was calculated as the total amount of soil lost divided by the time period of the test. The duration of the test was that needed to reach steady state runoff, an average time of 24.5 min for Quaternary calcareous colluvium and 17.7 min for Tertiary marls. The size distribution of the transported sediment in the field (effective size distribution) was compared with equivalent measurements of the same samples after chemical and mechanical dispersion (ultimate size distribution) to investigate the detachment and transport mechanisms involved in sediment mobilisation. The results showed that the soil type determined the hydrological response, regardless of the rainfall intensity. The erosional response was, however, determined by the rainfall and soil surface characteristics.In Quaternary calcareous colluvial soils, the predominant erosion process depended on the rainfall intensity, with a prevailing detachment-limited condition in high-intensity events and prevailing transport-limited conditions in those events of medium intensity. These differences in the main erosion processes were reflected in the size of the transported material and in the change in sediment size within the storm. Thus, a time-dependent size distribution of the eroded material (decreasing coarse fractions and increasing fine fractions with runoff time) was observed for high-intensity events. In medium-intensity events, on the other hand, the time-independent size distribution of the eroded material indicated transport-limited erosion.Due to the rapid surface crusting on the Tertiary marl soil, no differences in the main erosion processes or in the sediment size distribution occurred for the different rainfall intensities tested. The erosion of marl soils was determined mainly by the limited quantity of available sediment.The effective size of material was a more sensitive parameter than the ultimate size of the sediment to study the way in which the sediment was transported.     

生态保护工程和气候变化对长江源区植被变化的影响量化

分析长江源区生态保护工程和气候变化对植被变化的影响程度,对于长江源区生态工程的生态效益评估,以及区域植被适应性生态管理政策的制定具有重要意义。因此,本文基于1982-2015年的归一化植被指数数据(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI)和气象数据,分析长江源区植被NDVI的时空变化规律,构建预测植被NDVI对气候因子响应的人工神经网络模型,在此基础上,在年和季节尺度上量化气候变化和生态保护工程对长江源区植被变化的影响程度。结果表明:①在长江源区气候条件变化和生态保护工程影响下,长江源区植被退化得到遏制,植被生长呈好转趋势;②海拔相对较低的通天河附近植被NDVI增加幅度较大,高海拔的沱沱河和当曲流域的植被NDVI增加幅度相对较小;③长江源区植被NDVI对气候因子响应存在1～2月的滞后性。构建的人工神经网络模型的拟合优度参数人工神经网模型具有较高的预测精度,可以用来模拟植被NDVI对气候因子的响应;④年尺度的植被NDVI增加受到生态保护工程的影响程度(58.5%)大于气候变化的影响程度(41.5%)。生长季生态保护工程对NDVI的影响程度(63.3%)大于气候变化对NDVI的影响程度(36.7%),而非生长季气候变化是影响长江源区植被生长的关键要素(52.8%)。研究结果有助于为长江源区植被生态系统恢复、管理和利用战略的科学制定提供决策依据。     

黄土高原半干旱区天然锦鸡儿灌丛对土壤水分的影响

本文选择黄土高原半干旱区定西地区的一种地带性植被,天然甘蒙锦鸡儿灌丛,将其0～99m深的土壤水分含量与人工柠条锦鸡儿灌丛、人工杏树林、天然草地、放牧荒坡和农地的土壤水分含量进行了比较。结果发现,天然锦鸡儿灌丛在1m以下土壤各层的水分含量均高于人工柠条灌丛和人工杏树林,而与放牧荒坡和农地的土壤湿度接近,略低于农地。天然锦鸡儿灌丛4m以上土层的土壤湿度还明显高于天然草地;天然锦鸡儿灌丛形成的难效—无效水层深度在2m土层以上,而人工柠条灌丛形成的难效无效水层则深达56m,人工杏树林42m,天然草地、放牧荒坡分别为36m和33m,农地1m。